Two general types of high fidelity speaker arrangements are commonly employed. In the more conventional arrangement, all speakers are directed to the front of the speaker cabinet, no use being made of reflected sound. Thus, the single full range speaker (or array of woofers, tweeters, and midrange speakers) is mounted on a board which comprises the face of the speaker cabinet. While such a system is capable of accurate sound reproduction, it is necessary for the listener to be positioned directly in front of the cabinet in order to realize the full benefit, since high frequency sounds in particular are lost to either side. This is for the reason that high frequency sound waves are both more narrowly directed and nonreflecting. Thus, those listeners substantially out of direct line will not hear the high notes, thereby losing the benefit of the initially accurate sound reproduction.
More sophisticated systems attempt to make use of reflected sound. This usually entails mounting a number of full range speakers in the cabinet facing in various directions. In this fashion, portions of the reproduced sound reflect from nearby walls, giving the impression that sound is coming from a much larger area. However, single full range speakers capable of true sound reproduction are not readily available and much of the high frequency sound is again lost owing to its nonreflecting characteristics. That is, the direction of the full range of sound onto a reflecting surface benefits the low and midrange sounds but not those at the high end of the audible range. Further, absent the presence of reflecting surfaces, little benefit is realized.